# Getting Started
# Creating your account
If you’re a first time user, the first step is to register your details and create an account. Your BESS account stores all historical projects for your access at any time.
Once you register an account, BESS emails you to confirm your registration. Once your registration is confirmed you can start using BESS. Check your spam / junk folder if you can’t find the confirmation email.
You can edit your account profile details, such as the name, email and password, by navigating to your account icon and selecting 'My profile'.
Things to keep in mind:
- Registration sits with the individual email address used to create the account
- Projects sit within individual accounts. Projects cannot be shared between accounts
- Only the people with access to the account can modify the projects within that account.
- Projects can be transferred to another account on request – contact the BESS team via the Contact form (opens new window)
- You cannot copy or delete an account. If you would like your account deleted, contact the BESS team via the Contact form (opens new window)
Some organisations have set up a common account with a generic email so that multiple people from the organisation can access a single account.
# Project Portfolio
When you login and access your account, your project list will automatically appear.
The most recent projects are shown. If you click on ‘view all projects’ or the ‘projects’ tab in the header, all your projects will appear.
From this page, you can create a new project. When you do this, BESS will set up a project with a unique project number.
Once you have created a project you can:
- Edit it
- Publish it
- View an existing published version
- Copy it, or
- Delete it - if it hasn't been published.
# Navigating BESS
When you are within a project, the left sidebar serves as a useful summary and can also be used to navigate around BESS. It shows:
- The Project Name
- The current BESS Score. This is determined by the category scores, factoring in the weighting of each category.
- The current score in each BESS environmental category
- Address of the property
- The unique BESS project number
- The current project status, e.g. Draft, Published
- Whether the project is accessible to council.
Accessibility to council lets you choose to make your draft BESS project visible to the nominated council. This defaults to ‘No’ when a new project is established. It can be changed at any time. If you have previously selected 'Yes' and then change this to 'No', the BESS project will no longer be visible to the council.
Making a project accessible to council is not the same as submitting a BESS assessment. Always follow the planning permit application process at your nominated council. Contact council for accepted approaches to submitting documents.
When your report is published, specific council officers in the nominated council can view (but not edit) the report.
Credits may be as simple as a Yes/No question, may require simple numerical input, or may be calculated based on a number of inputs (profiling questions).